As a seasoned journalist said recently, the comment section is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

What on earth is the point? Why does the Star allow these comments to see the light of day????

Comments

indykjsharp [unverified] said:

"Allow" comments? They encourage comments. Every click on indystar.com equals pennies in the pockets of their advertisers. Clicks.. click-throughs... page views are all that counts in this biz anymore. It's more amazing that some stories, like Erika Smith on Carson, go to comments on FB instead of indystar. The news about the news is profit. Whatever generates the clicks.

2011-09-14 12:15:30

ruthholl [Member] said:

Thanks for educating me. I thought you had to click on an ad to make money -- at least that's the way it works on some blogs. I had no idea. So how does this work? Who pays whom? I understand how Facebook could take a cut, when a story is posted there, but when it's on the Star's own website, and a reader clicks on the story to read it, how does that generate money for the paper? Or is it all about that stupid high school reunion ad they show, that I always "x" out? I need more info. Thank you!

2011-09-14 17:38:11

hendy [Member] said:

The quick education: google these terms and understand what pageviews are, and how they reward websites: adwords, pageviews, "click money". You'll start to get the idea.

2011-09-16 14:58:01

Matt Stone [unverified] said:

While the Star sometimes blocks commenters from commenting, I find it more interesting that the IBJ has a huge, legal disclaimer before leaving a comment there saying that they'll turn over IP addresses and all that if faced with legal action.

Honestly, I think just having Facebook commenting will eventually be the way to go. It'd be easier to moderate, if that's a concern, and people are more likely to use their real name so there is less of a sense of anonymity than there is with bulletin boards.